> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- > Van: Dan Minette [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Verzonden: zaterdag 30 maart 2002 5:38 > Aan: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Onderwerp: Re: Child Soldiers RE: This week in the Middle East
> The Palestinians want it all, not just the West Bank and Gaza. They > have stated so repeatedly. Why do you think they would be satisfied > with the West Bank and Gaza when they could move to Israel and have it > all. Um, maybe because the Saudi peace proposal included the recognition of the State of Israel, a proposal that was unanimously accepted by the Arab nations *and* the Palestinian Authority? OK, there will still be Palestinians who will disagree with it, but you can hardly *force* them to change their views. > > You will never be able to end hatred by using violence. The only way > > to accomplish that is through mutual understanding. And mutual > > understanding can only be reached by living together. > > So, the Jews in Israel should lay down their arms and trust to the good > will of the Arabs? Is this your serious recommendation? I am suggesting that they should get to know each other better, as only mutual understanding will lead to lasting peace. That process will take time; I do not think they will immediately become the best of friends. There will undoubtedly be plenty of incidents and agression at first, but like in any other civilised country, that would then be a matter for the authorities. > Let me give a parallel. For 50 years, the United States defended > Europe against the Soviet Union. Was this a mistake? Should we just > have let the Soviets take over Europe, to better foster understanding? Your parallel is flawed. The people of Western Europe never lived under Soviet occupation, while the Palestinians have been living under Israeli occupation for decades. > The US and the Soviet Union (with a bit of help from other allies, > defeated Nazi Germany. Was the best solution to let the Nazis live > with the Dutch until hatred disappeared into understanding? Um, bad parallel. You are drawing a parallel between Nazi occupation and Israeli occupation. No matter how wrong the Israeli occupation is, it does not match the horrors of the Nazi occcupation. Bad parallel, but hey, at least *I* am not going lower myself to accusations of someone being a hate-filled anti-Semite for drawing a parallel between Israel and Nazi Germany... > Why were two thirds of the Jews killed last century after Jews live in > Europe over a thousand years? At the time, Germany was a urbane > sophisticated country. They were killed because of one madman who managed to get himself democratically elected, then did away with democracy, and started a genocide. (Something I believe Sharon to be capable of as well, and something I believe he would immediately do if he could get away with it.) > I find it ironic in the extreme that you think self defense is utopian. I did not say *self defense* is utopian, I said having 100% safety and security is utopian. Jeroen _________________________________________________________________________ Wonderful World of Brin-L Website: http://www.Brin-L.com Tom's Photo Gallery: http://tom.vanbaardwijk.com
